Page 80 of Hale Yes
Her fingers fly across the keyboard so quickly I can’t even tell what she’s typing. “Putting the camera feeds on a loop for a few minutes.” She stalls and looks up at me with wide eyes. “As long as I have your permission to do it.”
I’m not sure what to say here. We’re not doing anything wrong, simply saving ourselves from a potentially embarrassing situation. So I reply, “Fine. You have my permission.”
“Okey dokey,” she says airily, going back to work.
I shake my head even though she’s not looking at me. “But there’s no way you’re going to be able to get access to the cameras. We have the highest level of sec—” I cut myself off when a view loads of the main corridor on this floor. “What the hell? How did you?—”
Nicolette shrugs, looking sheepishly up at me. “I’m really good with computers.”
My eyes dart between her and the screen, and I wonder if I look as astonished as I feel. “How do you know it’s on a loop and not live?”
She stands and walks toward the door. “Just watch the screen.” Then she exits into the hallway. There’s no sign of her on any of the cameras. She fucking did it.
A minute later, she returns with a crisp pale-blue shirt on a hanger. The one I had on earlier was white, but I don’t think anyone will notice. If so, I’ll just tell them I spilled something and had to change.
“I have to say, I’m impressed with your hacking abilities,” I say, amusement ringing in my tone.
“Hacking is such an ugly word. I preferunsanctioned access. And I swear I don’t break into the Pentagon’s system or anything,” she assures me as she scoops bobby pins into her palm. “Plus, the laptop is hooked to the Hale server, so it’s a bit easier to do from the inside.”
I hold up one hand. “Wait, you can break into the Pentagon’s computers?”
Her cute nose wrinkles. “Of course not. It would take me days to get through all those layers.”
“So theoretically, you could.”
“Anything is possible when you puttheoreticallyin front of it,” she shoots back. “I would never do that though. And I wouldn’t have messed with the cameras here if you hadn’t said it was okay.” Her gaze meets mine, and her green irises darken with worry.
“I know you wouldn’t,” I assure her, sliding my arms into my fresh shirt.
“The way this system is set up, the raw footage is still there if someone digs deep enough, but I figure no one has any reason to go digging.” Her teeth chafe against her bottom lip. “And if they do, I guess they’ll suspect what we did.”
Twenty minutes later, we’re in the parking garage, both of us fully dressed and Nicolette’s hair in a haphazard bun. I like herlooking a little messy. Her assigned spot is directly beside mine, and we pause near the back of her vehicle.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks for, um, staying late to… work with me,” she says, a slight rosy tint blooming on her cheeks.
I stuff my hands into my pockets to keep from touching her, from pulling her against me and kissing her until she’s breathless.
“My pleasure,” I return, unable to hide the smirk on my lips.
A minute later, I shake my head as I climb into my SUV. I can’t believe Nicolette was able to get into our system so easily. Maybe I should tell security there’s a weakness?
Then again, I doubt anyone else would be able to tap in like that. Not many people have the mind of a genius. If it were anyone else, I’d be worried, but not with her.
Nicolette Bell doesn’t have a nefarious bone in her body.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Football and family
Nicolette
One thing I’ve learned about Texas, they have their own way of doing things. And that’s never truer than when looking at the seasons.
It’s September, and folks are starting to put out pumpkins, colored leaves, and all matter of “fall” related decor, but here’s the thing. There is no fall here. It’s a myth. The temperature is hovering at a sweltering ninety-seven damn degrees, but Texans act like it’s a cool, breezy autumn afternoon with pretty leaves floating down around them.
Heck, I saw a girl wearing a knitted scarf with her tank top and shorts last week and what I can only assume was a pumpkin-spice latte in her hand. I’ve been informed by several reputable sources—a.k.a. Stefan, Lukas, and Shay—that my new state will have a couple hard freezes sometime between December and February, and this is what they refer to as “winter.”
Another thing about Texas? They love their football. I don’t dislike the sport. I watched Giants’ games with my dad sometimes when I was a kid, but I can’t say I’m a huge fan.
